Will anyone be able to stop the Knights in the playoffs?

[ManofSteel55]

I'm still putting my money on Dallas in the West. They're firing on all cylinders right now, and it looks like they are going to hit a sliding LA squad in round 1, which should be a cake-walk for them, while Edmonton-Vegas and Colorado-Winnipeg will be dogfights, and Vancouver-Nashville could be really interesting with how well the Predators have played in the last month.

 

[North Cole]

Probably not. I'd like to see the Oilers win but the reality is we have holes. We have more holes than a 100M roster.

If we lose, I hope we beat the hell out of anyone who gets reactivated for game 1.

 

[Look Up]

Are they firing on all cylinders? Feels like they were limping along just a few weeks ago.

Right, they were on the verge of missing the playoffs - check engine light was popping up constantly.

 

[avsfan9]

Setting up to be Knights vs Oilers in round one. Conference champ comes out of that series?

Knights might but the oilers aren’t beating the Avs, and they should really start implementing the salary cap in the playoffs… you have to be compliant all season long , what’s so hard about making it in the playoffs as well.

 

[FlameChampion]

Colorado or Edmonton are the best bet.

Will see if Stone is healthy. People are expecting him to play game 1 (And I probably do too) but remains to be seen. Part of me wonders if they went and got Hertl because they don’t expect him back.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Knights might but the oilers aren’t beating the Avs, and they should really start implementing the salary cap in the playoffs… you have to be compliant all season long , what’s so hard about making it in the playoffs as well.

They still have two games against each other, so that should give a clearer picture.

Their first meeting felt like a playoff game.

 

[avsfan9]

They still have two games against each other, so that should give a clearer picture.

Their first meeting felt like a playoff game.

Yeah it was a great game but I feel the Avs are a little deeper. Oilers good very well beat them but I think their defence is suspect.

 

[Duder54]

West is scary good - there’s going to be a couple legit Stanley Cup contenders going home after round 1.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Oilers will beat them in Round 1.

No chance McDavid and Draisaitl are getting bounced without winning a single series.

Lots depends on Mark Stone's spleen. He came off LTIR last time and put in a Conn Smythe worthy performance against us. Whether he's hurt or "hurt" he was goddamn effective.

 

[FlameChampion]

Yeah it was a great game but I feel the Avs are a little deeper. Oilers good very well beat them but I think their defence is suspect.

The biggest advantage I think Colorado has is that Makar has the ability to shut down McDavid better than any other defenseman. He did this in the playoffs a few years ago. Whether he will be as effective in a future playoff remains to be seen.

 

[Vegas07]

and you know what the reality is?

31 other fanbases will not feel bad for a team that is circumventing the cap every year that their cheating got hit with an injury, intent or not.

Robin Lehner still carries a cap hit of $5 million and he hasn’t played for the team in 2 years. So if the team goes over because Stone got hurt then who cares? Quick didn’t play in the playoffs last year either.

The team will lose people in the offseason again, has almost no first round picks, and might not even make it past the first round.

 

[Vegas07]

Knights look to be firing on all cylinders and getting healthy. Will they just steam roll to the finals?

Not buying the team firing on all cylinders because of one great game. The team is playing better but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That was just one great game.

The Jets played much better than the score would trick people into thinking and were very unlucky in that game. The Wild lost because they took out their goalie in OT. Nashville came back from 4-1 and won.

The team is playing better but needs more games like yesterday to be “firing on all cylinders.” Vancouver could have something to say about that on Monday.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

The cup champs are deeper this year than last year.

If there's one team in the West who takes them out, it's Colorado. But Colorado doesn't have the depth that Vegas has. It would be because MacKinnon, Makar and Rantanen reek havoc on the Knights and take over in the series.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I dunno maybe

 

[CHGoalie27]

Not only are they still a brick shit house, I bet my existence on this forum that they will have the refs helping them through. Again. And it will be egregious. Again.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

If Adin Hill plays like Hill of last playoffs, watch out Western conference. All of a sudden their chances of repeating are that much higher.

 

[WhataKnight]

and you know what the reality is?

31 other fanbases will not feel bad for a team that is circumventing the cap every year that their cheating got hit with an injury, intent or not.

What fanbases are obligated to feel bad for others? (Not that I don’t have others for whom I hold an affinity, but that’s besides the point.)

Getting the vibe that if Vegas iced a cap compliant team and fought through the playoffs with full marks for effort, you’d still find a way to verbally shit dysentery linguini all over the accomplishment.

Any team getting through 16 playoff wins deserves it, despite whatever we here on an Internet forum think about it.

If you want to cry about the CBA, write your owners a letter telling them to put their money where their mouths are. Ain’t the Knights fault that another franchise only utilizes 99.1% of the agreed-upon procedures.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Yeah it was a great game but I feel the Avs are a little deeper. Oilers good very well beat them but I think their defence is suspect.

Avs are deeper for sure.

If the Avs have a weakness, it’s goaltending, and the Oilers could take advantage of that.

One thing I think is certain, it would be a closer series than the last time they played.

 

[WhataKnight]

Nothing‘s on lock.

Dallas, Avs, Edmonton, LA and Nashville. Not a slouch among them.

Sidenote: if I photoshop Ken Holland’s head in a VGK logo helmet, would it help Oilers fans target who they need to be mad at more than a team 1,500 miles away?

 

[Ol' Jase]

If I photoshop Ken Holland’s head in a VGK helmet logo, would it help Oilers fans target who they need to be mad at more than a team 1,500 miles away?

Huh?

West is scary good - there’s going to be a couple legit Stanley Cup contenders going home after round 1.

Honestly, any team who makes it in could feasibly win it all.

I see it tiered like this:

Dallas/Colorado/Vegas

Edmonton/Vancouver/Nashville

LA/Winnipeg

 

[WhataKnight]

Huh?

Ha - Not you. Just getting the sentiment that some folks choose to allege that Vegas is good because of how they work the cap as opposed to the roster quality they still have when 100% compliant.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

The addition of Hanifin makes their D that much better. Hanifin and Pietrangelo is as good as it gets for a top D pairing who can play close to 30mins a night.

Once Stone comes back from his 2 month vacation.

Barbashev - Eichel - Marchessault
Dorofeyev - Stephenson - Stone
Roy - Hertl - Mantha
Amadio - Karlsson - Howden

X - Kolesar, Carrier.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Ha - Not you. Just getting the sentiment that some folks choose to allege that Vegas is good because of how they work the cap as opposed to the roster quality they still have when 100% compliant.

Can’t blame the player, my friend. Vegas isn’t doing anything against the rules, period.

 

[WhataKnight]

Can’t blame the player, my friend. Vegas isn’t doing anything against the rules, period.

I’d not say those words to an Oilers die-hard face to face without Kevlar given how some regard Vegas.

I’d be thrilled if Staios, Allvin and Treliving had the kind of chats that McCrimmon & Grier had on Hertl even before the ASG. (Pretty sure Vegas’ “computer boy” counterpart was in on that too…..can’t leave Andy Lugerner out of it given how the Hertl deal was done.)

PO’s are just more entertaining with a Clash of the Titans. More so if most matchups are crazy hard to call.

Worst thing about the Covid Cup to me wasn’t Tampa winning or the Knights losing, even. (Thanks, Fleury. Love ya, but stop staring at the scoreboard when Josh Anderson is on the ice…!!!) It was knowing that Montréal was likely to get paved over by a Bolts team built for just that job. I prefer playoff outcomes harder to call.

 

[um]

I'm still putting my money on Dallas in the West. They're firing on all cylinders right now, and it looks like they are going to hit a sliding LA squad in round 1, which should be a cake-walk for them, while Edmonton-Vegas and Colorado-Winnipeg will be dogfights, and Vancouver-Nashville could be really interesting with how well the Predators have played in the last month.

People never learn.